In Reply to: True, but how did Reagan get nominated? posted by DSCBruin on November 10, 2026 at 18:45:31
from wikipedia:
In Florida, Reagan used racially coded rhetoric to undermine Food Stamps, referring to recipients as "strapping young buck[s]", and attacked Ford for handing the Panama Canal to Panama's government, while Ford implied that Reagan would end Social Security.[140] Then, in Illinois, Reagan again criticized Ford's policy and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. Losing the first five primaries prompted Reagan to desperately win North Carolina's by running a grassroots campaign and uniting with the Jesse Helms political machine that viciously attacked Ford. Reagan won an upset victory, convincing party delegates that Ford's nomination was no longer guaranteed. Reagan won subsequent victories in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana with his attacks on social programs, opposition to forced busing to achieve school desegregation,